Nantucket Sound Mapping

The project team conducted a geophysical survey in western Nantucket Sound offshore Massachusetts. About 680 kilometers of high-resolution bathymetric and sub-bottom data were collected. These data can be used to help locate potential sand sources, delineate habitat, improve navigation charts, aid in maritime safety, and determine potential renewable energy infrastructure placement. Dale Oakley Jr., Assistant Director of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe’s Department of Natural Resources, assisted one day in the field. This mapping effort was later reviewed as part of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe’s Preserving Our Homelands science camp.

Evaluated Two Methods of Predicting Future Shoreline Position

Data from different parts of the Massachusetts coast, including Cape Cod Bay, were used to study two methods of predicting future shoreline position. The forecasts created by these methods were tested against observed shoreline positions to determine their accuracy.

Simulated Sediment Transport and Coastal Erosion

Using the COAWST modeling system, the project team simulated sediment transport and coastal erosion in the Gulf of Maine and Cape Cod Bay from January through April 2021—a time that included several strong nor’easters. This investigation can help coastal zone managers better understand how, where, and why sediment is transported in the coastal zone.

Published Cape Cod Bay Mapping Data

In August 2019, the project successfully completed the first-ever comprehensive, high-resolution geophysical survey of Cape Cod Bay and the first systematic bathymetric mapping of the entire bay since the 1930s. In 2022, those data were published. The data can be used to locate sandy shoreface deposits, potential new fishing grounds, buried lakes, and evidence for glaciotectonics.

Coastal Change Likelihood Assessment: Northeast Pilot Study Products

The project continues to update the nearly 20-year-old coastal vulnerability to sea-level rise index, which assesses the susceptibility of the Nation’s coast to sea-level rise. The updated product is the Coastal Change Likelihood assessment, a framework that synthesizes existing datasets to evaluate the likelihood of coastal change along the U.S. coastlines within the coming decade. In 2022, products for the Northeast pilot study, including a data report, data release, and geonarrative, were reviewed. They were released in early 2023. Funded work through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative also began, expanding the project to the Great Lakes region in an interagency effort, with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Forecasting Future Suitable Habitat for Piping Plover

In 2017, this project began linking physical response models to Charadrius melodus (piping plover) habitat models, producing forecasts of barrier island characteristics and plover habitat availability. Companion papers document a linked Bayesian belief network methodology to forecast future suitable habitat for piping plover at Fire Island National Seashore in New York under several possible sea-level-rise scenarios. An overview presentation was given to Fire Island National Seashore staff to present the findings from this research.

“Coastal Effects” Chapter of Fifth National Climate Assessment Underway

A project scientist began writing the national “Coastal Effects” chapter of the Fifth National Climate Assessment. The assessment aims to inform natural resource and utility managers, public health officials, emergency planners, financial risk managers, and other stakeholders as they consider climate-related risks in their decision making.

Fieldwork

The AIMG collaborated with the USGS National Uncrewed Systems Office to test the newly acquired OceanInsight HDX Miniature Spectrometer, a modified laboratory spectroradiometer, against the industry standard product, at the South Cape Beach marsh in Waquoit Bay, Massachusetts. The UAS imagery collected in this field effort is being used in a secondary methods study for machine learning classification of invasive Phragmites australis (common reed), which AIMG members are investigating for potential use in mapping the invasive reed on Assateague Island National Seashore, a barrier island on the east coast of Maryland and Virginia. The group also assisted the USGS New York Water Science Center with thermal mapping of a local cranberry bog and wetland ecosystem at the Quashnet River in Mashpee, Massachusetts.

UAS Introductory Instruction

An AIMG member became a lead U.S. Department of the Interior A–450 instructor, giving the group the capability of hosting and teaching the introductory small UAS piloting class for USGS. Members of the AIMG served as instructors for the April 2022 introductory class in Fort Collins, Colorado.

Interagency Knowledge Transfer and ENVI Training

The AIMG sent three members to Cape Hatteras National Seashore in North Carolina to train new U.S. National Park Service UAS pilots in structure-from-motion best practices. The group was able to map the Bodie Island Light Station and a section of the beach at Ocracoke Inlet. The group also organized a virtual training in spectral imagery analysis using ENVI image-analysis software. The training was attended by several Woods Hole scientists and was aimed at exposing them to another tool for coastal remote-sensing analysis.

New Space for Training, Testing, and Proficiency

The AIMG became members of the Marston Mills Discover Flying RC Club and has used its facilities for training and proficiency purposes. An AIMG member gave a presentation to the club on USGS activities and fielded many questions.

Project Support

The SFMG conducted multiple geophysical and seismic surveys, core-sampling operations, and other field efforts in support of numerous projects to (1) define the geologic framework of the sea floor within the Massachusetts coastal zone; (2) investigate the sediments and shallow stratigraphy of the New England Mud Patch and surrounding region; (3) investigate stratigraphy and mudflow hazards along the Mississippi River Delta front; (4) identify active methane seepage along the mid-Atlantic shelf; (5) investigate methane gas presence in the sediment, water, and atmosphere of Chesapeake Bay; and (6) map the seasonal distribution of Ammodytes dubius (northern sand lance) within the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary offshore Massachusetts. The SFMG also began supporting postcruise data processing, interpretation, and publication for three USGS efforts, including one in response to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Outreach

The center hosted 25 students and culture keepers from the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe’s Preserving Our Homelands summer camp for an annual field trip focused on introducing the group to Cape Cod geology and hydrology. The students listened to an informational talk and participated in a guided exploration of distinctive glacial landforms in the Beebe Woods conservation area in Falmouth, Massachusetts.

Research and System Development

Delmarva Regional Study

The Sea Floor Mapping Group continued to work collaboratively with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, State agencies, universities, and other regional stakeholders to deepen understanding of the coasts and continental shelves and to help partners incorporate many recent USGS data releases and publications into their own studies. The offshore wind and support industries are using these data and interpretations extensively for siting energy transmission and support infrastructure.

Lake Superior Stamp Sands

In a joint effort with the USGS Great Lakes Science Center, the WHCMSC mapped an area of Lake Superior that has been—and continues to be—greatly affected by a legacy of copper mining in the region. Geophysical, photographic, and sampling data were collected to support efforts to determine changes in substrate since a baseline survey in 2005 and the previous USGS survey in 2018. New methods are being developed to assess the concentration of stamp sands (waste materials from the mines) in bottom sediments, which can help Federal, State, local, and Tribal partners decide on the best mitigation measures.

Sampling Survey in Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary

WHCMSC scientists and technical staff conducted a Seabed Observation and Sampling System (SEABOSS) survey in collaboration with NOAA’s Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary to acquire sea-floor samples, video, and photographs within the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary. This is part of a long-term sampling effort to map the seasonal distribution of northern sand lance within the sanctuary.

Added New Data to Coastal Change Hazards Portal

The TCA project supports the maintenance of the USGS Coastal Change Hazards Portal, a web visualization tool that allow users to view and download important coastal data, such as past rates of shoreline change, effects on landscape caused by sea-level rise, and coastal flooding due to extreme storms. In 2022, in addition to keeping up with required changes and updates, new data were added to the portal. The new data include a national dataset describing marsh health called the unvegetated-vegetated marsh ratio (UVVR) and data describing the protective nature of coral reefs against storm impacts. Several existing datasets were expanded to include data for Puerto Rico, including shoreline change data and coastal flooding impacts due to hurricanes.

Published DSAS Version 5.1 and Updated User Guide

The Digital Shoreline Analysis System (DSAS) is software that enables a user to calculate rate-of-change statistics from a time series of shoreline positions. The project team published the latest version of DSAS, as well as an updated user guide. As of October 2022, DSAS version 5 was cited in over 230 scientific papers, and the tutorial videos have 7,000 combined views. Between April 2021 and March 2022, the DSAS project page website was accessed 277,235 times, and the software site was accessed 15,500 times with 12,499 downloads.

Updated Shoreline Position Databases and Change Rate Products

The USGS maintains data on historical shoreline positions for the United States coasts from both older and contemporary sources. These shoreline data are compiled and analyzed in the USGS DSAS software to calculate rates of change. In 2022, the TCA project updated shoreline position databases and shoreline change-rate products for Massachusetts, Georgia, Florida, Puerto Rico, and California. The project team also created the National Shoreline Change Catalog web page to help users find existing, published USGS shoreline change data.

Chapters on Global Gas Hydrates on Marine Margins

USGS Gas Hydrates Project scientists contributed as lead authors or coauthors to 6 of the 36 chapters in a new monograph (published January 2022) that compiles information about natural gas hydrate deposits on global marine margins. Project scientists in Woods Hole were lead authors of chapters on the first modern updates of gas hydrate distribution on all Alaskan marine margins and on the U.S. Atlantic margin. They contributed to chapters on hydrates offshore the Canadian Pacific Northwest and the eastern coast of India.

Invented New Gas Analysis Instrumentation

With sponsorship from the U.S. Department of Energy, the Gas Hydrates Project built and proved an automated system for the sequential analysis of 16 samples containing aqueous phase dissolved gas. The new system, called the Auto-SIM, is used to measure the concentration of carbon dioxide, methane, and higher order hydrocarbons in samples and to make stable carbon isotopic measurements for methane and carbon dioxide in nearly real time in the field.

U.S. Atlantic Margin: Updated Map of Shallow Gas and Gas Hydrate Distribution

Using a supervised machine learning approach, the Gas Hydrates Project automated analysis of processed multichannel seismic data for delineation of features associated with shallow sub-sea-floor gas and gas hydrate on the northern U.S. Atlantic margin between Cape Hatteras and Hudson Canyon. The analysis used multichannel seismic data collected in 2018 during the Mid-Atlantic Resource Imaging Experiment cruise. Results reveal that gas hydrates and shallow gas are more widespread than previously thought.

Gulf of Mexico: Continued Analysis of Samples

Project scientists continued collaborating on the analysis of samples recovered from hydrate-bearing units during the 2017 northern Gulf of Mexico drilling program. The range of studies the project collaborated on represents a whole-system approach to studying natural gas hydrates and highlights the breadth of USGS Gas Hydrates Project contributions to fundamental studies and applied research on advanced simulation of gas hydrate reservoirs.

Formal Documentation of the Seven Core Regions and Their ECS Outer-Limit Points

The project achieved its primary goal of finishing the formal documentation of the seven core regions (Arctic, Atlantic, Bering, Eastern Gulf of Mexico, Western Gulf of Mexico, Marianas, and Pacific) and their ECS outer-limit points. This included making final edits to the documentation from five of the seven core regions (Arctic, Bering, Eastern Gulf of Mexico, Western Gulf of Mexico, and Pacific) and creating the final drafts for the remaining two regions (Marianas and Atlantic). The final drafts for the Marianas and Atlantic had significant USGS contributions. Additionally, work was nearly completed on documenting possible alternatives to the ECS in the Pacific region and developing a fully vetted submission package for Hawaii (though it will not be part of the formal submission package).

Chirp Seismic Survey and Piston Coring on the New England Margin

In collaboration with the University of Texas Applied Research Laboratories, the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, and the USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, scientists at the center conducted a chirp seismic survey and piston-coring effort on the New England margin to support continuing investigation of the sediments and shallow stratigraphy of the New England Mud Patch and surrounding region. During this fieldwork, the center’s new multicorer—created in collaboration with the Sea Floor Mapping Group—was tested along the southern New England margin.

Seismic Surveys and Coring Along the Mississippi River Delta Front

The center conducted a multibeam echosounder, chirp, and multichannel seismic survey and slow-coring effort to support a continuing project investigating stratigraphy and mudflow hazards along the Mississippi River Delta front. Data were collected between Southwest and South Passes in water depths between 20 and over 300 meters. The center’s new multicorer was successfully operated during this fieldwork.

High-Resolution Mapping and Imaging of Past Nodule Activities on Blake Plateau

Center scientists conducted high-resolution mapping and photographic imaging of a region of the Blake Plateau in the Atlantic Ocean where polymineralic nodule extraction techniques were tested in 1970. The new maps and image mosaics can be used to assess the scale of the impacts to the sea floor and the level of recovery over the last 52 years. The USGS is partnering with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on this effort.

Published COAWST 10-Year Forecast Data Release

The COAWST 10-year forecast data release, “Collection of COAWST Model Forecast for the US East Coast and Gulf of Mexico,” was published in 2022. The modeling system was developed to study impacts of storms on coastal systems and has been executed daily since 2010, with outputs written every hour. Users can access the model output data to analyze various physical properties and processes such as water level, temperature, salinity, currents, wave heights, periods, and directions for research. Also, the model output can be used to guide smaller scale simulations for studying regional coastal response to storms or other natural phenomena at specific time periods.

Completed Hurricane Florence Geonarrative

The USGS partnered with North Carolina State University, Louisiana State University, and the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research to investigate hurricane-induced compound flooding and sediment dispersal by using coupled hydrology and ocean models. The state-of-the-art model involves integrating a hydrologic model into the COAWST framework, which is a combination of atmospheric, waves, and ocean circulation models. This offers the potential to investigate the role of three-dimensional land-ocean-interaction processes in coastal storm hazards. The team created the “Hurricane Florence Numerical Modeling” geonarrative to highlight the motivation for this work, as well as atmospheric modeling, hydrological modeling, and contaminant tracking. This work is supported by the Additional Supplemental Appropriations for the Disaster Relief Act of 2019 (Public Law 116–120, 113 Stat. 871).

Maintained CoastCams To Validate Forecasts

The Coastal and Estuarine Dynamics group maintained cameras along the Cape Cod National Seashore at Head of the Meadow Beach, North Truro, Massachusetts, and Marconi Beach, Wellfleet, Massachusetts. The cameras are used to validate Total Water Level and Coastal Change forecasts.

Published Data Releases From Cape Cod National Seashore Surveys

The group surveyed Head of the Meadow Beach and Marconi Beach using a helium-powered kite-balloon, camera, and photogrammetry for the beach and bluffs, and an autonomous boat with a global positioning system (GPS) receiver and sonar for the offshore portion. This work resulted in three data releases. The latest surveys show that at Head of the Meadow Beach, dunes are growing, but the offshore bar has changed very little. By contrast, the bars at Marconi Beach are active and have changed substantially since the 2021 survey.

Outer Banks Overflight Efforts Continue

Aerial imagery collected by airplane in the Outer Banks of North Carolina continued as part of rapid response to storms and recovery monitoring after Hurricanes Florence (2018) and Dorian (2019). Analysis of the flooding and erosion of North Core Banks during Hurricane Dorian was published in early 2023. Findings show that the landward side of the island was flooded by several meters of storm surge from Pamlico Sound, more than 80 channels were cut through gaps in the dune, and about 18 percent of the island sand was washed into the Atlantic Ocean. The analysis of this event was supported by the Additional Supplemental Appropriations for the Disaster Relief Act of 2019 (Public Law 116–120, 113 Stat. 871).

Expanded Activities To Include Analysis of Satellite Imagery

The Remote Sensing Coastal Change project expanded activities to include analysis of satellite imagery. Project scientists collaborated with other USGS project teams and colleagues in Australia to use the CoastSat workflow to acquire satellite-derived shorelines for the United States. CoastSat is an open-source software toolkit that enables users to obtain time-series shoreline positions at any sandy coastline worldwide from over 30 years of publicly available satellite imagery.

DUNEX Pea Island Experiment

The USGS, including scientists from the WHCMSC, participated in the multiagency DUNEX (During Nearshore Event Experiment) project in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, September through October 2021. Maps of the beach were made at regular intervals. A weather station measured meteorological data; offshore instruments measured waves, water levels, and currents; and CoastCams recorded wave runup and changes in beach morphology. The team began processing these extensive datasets and published two data releases.

Quantified Greenhouse Gas Fluxes in Chesapeake Bay

The USGS and the University of Maryland’s Chesapeake Biological Laboratory conducted a study in the Chesapeake Bay to quantify greenhouse gas fluxes from the largest estuary in the United States. The team investigated the environmental factors that control the distribution and exchange of methane and carbon dioxide in the sediments, water column, and atmospheric boundary layer during the annual summer occurrence of widespread anoxia that threatens the health of the bay.

Published Study on Oxygenation of an Underwater Cave During a Tropical Cyclone

Project scientists found that a tropical storm provided the Ox Bel Ha subterranean estuary of the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico with an influx of oxygen. Results show that this oxygen influx can enhance the biological removal of methane and help support the food web within this lightless and typically oxygen-limited habitat.

New Collaboration With the Northeast Climate Adaptation Science Center

A new collaboration was started with the USGS Northeast Climate Adaption Science Center. The project aims to merge geomorphic and ecological data in marshes of the Northeast region to provide decision support tools to coastal managers. Two new postdoctoral fellows were hired and began collaborating on this project.

Continued Two Projects With Federal Partners

The team is continuing a project with the U.S. National Park Service, Northeast region, to develop a structured decision-making process for prioritizing marsh restoration that uses comprehensive USGS geospatial data. The team is also continuing a project with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Southeast region, to synthesize data of marsh vegetation change across coastal refuges in the southeastern United States using the national unvegetated-vegetated marsh ratio (UVVR). They are comparing lateral marsh change with elevation change and delivering geographic information system (GIS) tools to refuge partners to track restoration, loss, and vulnerability.

Improved Hindcasts of Hurricane Michael

In 2022, USGS focused on improving hindcasts of Hurricane Michael, which made landfall along the Florida panhandle in October 2018. Scientists found that the morphodynamic changes simulated by USGS models were very sensitive to the land cover represented in the input files. A major task of the NOPP project is to provide updated bathymetry and land cover maps that can be used to provide a more accurate prediction of storm impacts. Model simulations of the breach at Cape San Blas improved substantially when accurate vegetation maps were used as input to the models. Hurricane Michael also created large areas of building damage near Mexico Beach. As part of the NOPP project, USGS is developing a machine learning technique to estimate structural damage based on the land cover and building characteristics.

Predicted Hurricane Ian Impacts

In September 2022, Hurricane Ian made two landfalls on the gulf coast of Florida and the Atlantic coast of South Carolina, creating a large, impacted region. As part of the NOPP project, USGS forecasted the event as the hurricane approached land. Maps of maximum water levels and maximum wave heights were updated daily and were provided and distributed by the USGS debriefing team to State and local emergency planning authorities. Data collected by the NOPP project are used to validate the models. The project is preparing for the next hurricane season by updating our forecasting system and ingesting more accurate land cover data.

Herring River Blue Carbon and Carbon Market Assessment

Throughout the year, two eddy flux towers continuously measured carbon dioxide and methane emissions from two locations within the Herring River, Wellfleet, Massachusetts. Wetland water table depth and salinity were monitored across the impoundment. Scientists evaluated dissolved fluxes of carbon to complete a total greenhouse gas accounting assessment of the Herring River restoration. Modeling efforts are underway to combine predictions of water elevations and wetland response behind an impoundment to better understand the fate of such systems if they are not restored and sea-level rise continues to accelerate.

Research on Carbon Dioxide Removal

In a collaborative effort, the Environmental Geosciences group researched a new approach to climate change mitigation: coupling enhancement of salt marsh elevation through thin-layer placement with enhancement mineral weathering as a method for carbon dioxide removal from the atmosphere. The team led an experiment at the Herring River in Wellfleet, Massachusetts, site as a first examination. The pilot experiment is intended to support a proposal to include carbon dioxide removal as part of the Herring River restoration.

Recording Prerestoration Conditions

Project scientists worked with the University of Georgia and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration restoration staff to record prerestoration conditions at an impounded wetland in Gulf Shores, Alabama. Sediment cores were collected to determine carbon accretion rates and ecosystem transitions due to shifts in flooding conditions and water salinity. Greenhouse gas fluxes were measured, and sensors were deployed that continue to record water level and salinity.

Science on Sea-Level Rise and Wetland Transgression

The project team, with the USGS Florence Bascom Geoscience Center, visited eight long-term research sites on the Mattaponi and Pamunkey Rivers in Virginia to collect soil cores. Data from these cores are being used to determine how vegetation evolution linked to salinity changes is affecting the accretion of organic matter and mineral sediment. In collaboration with the University of Georgia, the project team is also evaluating changes in soil properties and accretion along the Satilla River, Georgia, as changes in flooding frequency and salinity result in vegetation shifts. This work helps increase understanding of how wetland transgression will shape the coastal region in decades to come.

Analytical Support to Projects

The Geochemistry and Sediment Labs provided analyses in support of research on nearshore and estuarine studies on salt marsh dynamics, including collaborations with the National Park Service at the Herring River restoration in Massachusetts, USGS colleagues at the Florence Bascom Geoscience Center on the Pamunkey and Mattaponi Rivers in Virginia, and academic partners in Georgia and Alabama. Additionally, lab personnel supported coastal and offshore research by the Massachusetts Integrated Coastal Studies project, the Great Lakes Coastal Hazards and Resources project, the New England Shelf Break and New England Seamounts Acoustic experiments, and the Seabed Characterization Experiment project.

Work With the Bureau Quality Management System

Laboratory personnel continued to work with Bureau Quality Management System team members to implement the USGS Quality Management System, a structured and documented system designed to ensure quality, reliability, and confidence in the methods, processes, and data in USGS laboratories.

Published FAIR Roadmap

A member of the Information Science group led a team of authors that published recommendations to improve the alignment of all USGS data with the principles of being findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable (FAIR Principles). The resulting FAIR roadmap consists of nine strategies that include actions to support USGS data producers in adhering to the FAIR Principles. The roadmap will improve the USGS infrastructure of information systems and policy and provide USGS employees with information about the methods and benefits of the FAIR Principles.

White Paper on Modernizing the Data Library

A new staff member joined the data library after completing a master of library and information science degree. Her first accomplishment was “Modernizing the Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Center Data Library,” a white paper offering options and priorities as well as references for methods and best practices.

Continued Converting At-Risk Media

The data library continued converting data stored on at-risk media, such as 8-millimeter tapes, CD-ROMs, DVDs, and Jaz disks. Data conversion is made possible by equipment provided by the Sea Floor Mapping Group, as well as their expertise in troubleshooting and resolving issues in accessing the data on the media. So far, the effort has rescued over 115 gigabytes of raw data from 16 field activities occurring between 1991 and 2000.

Created Center Video

The center’s communications staff created a short video to provide an overview of the center’s various research focus areas and explain the use and value of the knowledge, data, and tools the scientists produce.